RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., March 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cesca Therapeutics Inc. (“Cesca”) (NASDAQ:KOOL), a market leader in automated cell processing and point-of-care, autologous cell-based therapies, today announced that its ThermoGenesis device subsidiary has signed a license agreement with IncoCell Tianjin Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based Boyalife Group, for CAR-T related and other cellular processing CDMO services. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, ThermoGenesis has granted IncoCell an exclusive license to purchase and use, at a discounted purchase price, X-Series™ cellular processing research devices, consumables and kits for use in the conduct of CDMO operations in certain Asia Pacific countries. In exchange, ThermoGenesis is entitled to a percentage of IncoCell’s gross contract development revenues, including any potential upfront payments, future milestones or royalty payments.

“China is among the leading markets for CAR-T developers, and together with the U.S., represent the two countries with the highest number of ongoing CAR-T clinical trials,” said Dr. Chris Xu, chief executive officer of Cesca. “This agreement with IncoCell signifies our first CDMO collaboration, and is consistent with our goal of expanding beyond off-the-shelf cellular processing solutions into higher-value contract manufacturing and development services. Moving forward, we plan to pursue additional CDMO collaborations in selected markets while executing global distribution and other strategic partnering agreements for our highly differentiated X-Series line of products.”

About IncoCell Tianjin, Ltd.Founded in 2015, IncoCell is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based Boyalife Group. The facility, which is headquartered in Tianjin, China, occupies 160,000 square feet of laboratory space dedicated to the contract development and manufacture of cellular products for immuno-oncology.

About Cesca Therapeutics Inc. Cesca Therapeutics develops, commercializes and markets a range of automated technologies for CAR-T and other cell-based therapies. Its device division, ThermoGenesis, provides a full suite of solutions for automated clinical biobanking, point-of-care applications, and automation for immuno-oncology. The Company is developing an automated, functionally-closed CAR-TXpress™ platform that addresses the critical unmet need for better cellular manufacturing and controls (CMC) for the emerging CAR-T immunotherapy market. Cesca is an affiliated company of China-based Boyalife Group.